High-schoolers' COTA passes set to expire

More than 3,000 high-school students in the Columbus City Schools have signed up for a new bus pass to continue riding COTA free after Thursday, when old passes expire because of a glitch.

More than 3,000 high-school students in the Columbus City Schools have signed up for a new bus pass to continue riding COTA free after Thursday, when old passes expire because of a glitch.

About 12,000 others, if they don't act soon, would have to pay for a COTA ride or find other ways to get to sports practices, internships and other destinations.

Students waiting until after Thursday to sign up might have to wait about a week for new passes as transportation officials shift their focus to other projects, said district spokeswoman Jacqueline Bryant. Columbus schools have been guaranteeing a 48-hour turnaround time.

Because of a glitch with the passes' programming, about 15,000 high-schoolers' passes will stop working Friday morning. The passes were intended to be good through Sept. 30, when the district's current-year deal with COTA expires. Any replacement passes also will be good through that date.

About 1,250 students have picked up their new passes - which required turning in their old passes or paying a $25 lost-card fee.

The free replacement passes are only for currently enrolled students, who can request a pass by calling 614-365-5074, Bryant said.

Students swipe their passes at the fare box when they board a bus. Under the contract, the school district pays COTA by the ride, up to $600,000, a cap that has been reached.

Starting next school year, that cap will go away, but the district has said it will devise a plan to keep its costs at $600,000. That could mean a drastic reduction in student ridership.

Those students who get replacement passes still will face blackout dates on which the passes won't work, said COTA spokeswoman Beth Berkemer. The remaining dates are Friday (during Downtown's Red, White & Boom), and July 22-24 (during the Jazz & Rib Fest, also Downtown). Columbus students can still ride the bus on those days if they pay the $1.75 fare, Berkemer said.

The district buys COTA passes ostensibly for students to use to get to required internships, but aside from blackout dates, there are no restrictions on use. Many students use them to get to sports practices or jobs or for personal reasons.

bbush@dispatch.com

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